Carpet Care
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Why Encapsulation?
Carpet Maintenance
Typical soil particles found deep down between the tufts of carpet— dirt, sand, dust particles, etc.—have over 25 different cutting edges. If left in the carpet, these gritty, sharp-edged particles cut, scratch and grind against carpet fibers, causing premature wear. The carpet loses density and resilience, and appears dull and faded. Today’s industrial and commercial carpets can outlast and outperform earlier floor cover- ings if they receive the correct care. But you need to know what you’re doing to get the best results. Most of the soil that can damage carpet comes from three sources: tracked in dirt from the outside, dust and grease settling from the air, and various kinds of spills. Without proper maintenance, these materi- als combine with normal traffic contribute to the wear and tear of the carpeting. The good news is that most of this soil can be removed— and the life of your carpet extended—with the right equipment and simple, regular procedures. Preventative Maintenance Common sense preventive maintenance prolongs carpet life, improves appearance and reduces the need for more complicated maintenance procedures. There are three basic elements to a good preventative maintenance program: using walk-off mats, vacuuming and spot removal. Nearly 80% of the soil in carpeting is tracked in from the outside by foot traffic and can be stopped by the proper use of walk-off mats. (we can recommend the right sizes, types, quantities and placement of mats for your needs.) Mats should be kept clean and dry or they become a source of soil and abrasive materials themselves. To main- tain the mats, a pressure washer or extractor will do a thorough job of cleaning. Mats should be cleaned at least weekly, more frequently where traffic is heavy. During rain or snow seasons, clean mats with a wet pick up vacuum. Also, do not apply soil protection to mats after cleaning. You want them to attract soil so it doesn’t get tracked onto your carpet. Almost 80% of the soil that gets into carpet can be removed by vacuuming, so it is obviously a key part of your overall maintenance program. For best results, carpet manufacturers recommend frequent vacuuming. They use to solely recommend using a vacuum that uses a revolving brush with its head properly adjusted to the pile height of the carpet. (The brush creates a high speed sweeping action and loosens dirt while the vacuum’s suction removes it. Most commercial vacuums have dual motors to best accomplish this—one to drive the brush and one to create the vacuum suction.) New studies indicate that any vacuum with sufficient suction (airflow-measured as CFM) will remove soil just as well.
A: Part I : Traditional carpet chemicals are manufactured with ingredients that leave harmful sticky residues in the carpet. This residue builds up, while attracting soil to it. This leads to increased maintenance of the carpet, which impacts the bottom line cost of doing so. A: Part II: Encapsulation carpet chemicals are manufactured with ingredients that do not leave harmful sticky residues in the carpet. They also have a crystalline polymer included that is designed to trap and hold any remaining soil that is left behind in the cleaning process, and when the carpet dries, the crystalline and the soil is simply vacuumed away the next time the carpet is dry vacuumed. By not adding anything to the carpet–and removing what might be left behind as a result of the process of cleaning the carpet–the carpet care maintenance are dramatically enhanced. Graph below shows cost comparison between standard extraction chemicals being used and encapsulation chemicals being used in a 55,000 square foot area–with an encapsulation program representing over a 40% savings!
Self-Contained Extraction Procedure
$800.00
Standard
$700.00
$600.00
$500.00
Encap
$400.00
$300.00
$200.00
$100.00
$0.00
56 | Carpet Care | Distributed Exclusively by Envoy Solutions
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